In Hearts We Leave Behind
by fancifulpants
Summary: As Voldemort rises to power, all of her grand plans are completely shaken by the harsh reality of war. Suddenly, it seems like everyone and everything is different. Even the arrogant James Potter has changed. Or perhaps, what Lily thought she wanted has.
1. The Growth of a Flower

**The Growthof aFlower:Through the Pensieve**

It is, perhaps, a strange thing to realize that those of us who are among the hunted, those of us whose lives are in constant danger, those of us who risk everything to fight evil and restore peace in our time were once so innocent. As children: laughing, playing, worrying about silly cares, about the boy who sat behind us in Transfiguration, about whether or not our best friend is still mad at us, over our OWL grades and NEWT grades, wondering whether or not our parents can still chase away the monsters that torment us.

Things that overwhelm us as children seem like such trifles now, now that the Dark Lord is gaining power, now that no one is safe, now that your best friend has become your worst enemy, now that we are all fighting to survive in a losing battle. Now that nothing is sacred anymore, nothing except for honest, selfless love. The love that brings one to die for those they love, for what they believe, for what they want for their children, their families and their friends.

As I would die for my husband, I know that he would do no less for me. I know now that love is our only weapon in this fight. As cliched as it sounds, real love is all that we have going for us. The sort of love that remains when infatuation fades, the way I love my husband and my son. The ties that bind us are stronger than death.

But I suppose that you did not come here to hear me tell you of what has come, but of how it came to be. How I came to realize that everything I thought was important was dust in the wind. How I came to recognize the value of life, but understand that there are things worth dieing for.

_As Albus Dumbledore has always said, Death is just the next big adventure. _

Perhaps the best way for me to show you how it all came to be is not to tell you, as my memory fades and I may leave something out, details slip from my mind like holding water in my cupped hands. I may not be able to tell you how things happened, how I came to find, life, love, happiness, and then sadness, hate and death. Maybe a glance into the Pensieve, swirling haze of misty memories, will show you what I cannot. Show you how it all began, and let you decide for yourself what is yet to come.

This Silver vile short take you where you want to go, my first day of Hogwarts. September 1, 1969 was only a month and half after I received the letter that changed everything: a regular post day, a tawny brown owl had swooped down on my house, and a letter flew into the mail slot. I saw the owl fly away, a loping grace to his wing beats as he flew towards the sun. As my father walked to pick up the post, I scurried over to him, clamoring to know if any of the mail were for me. Every day I asked, but never was there anything for me. My 16 year old sister, Petunia found my eagerness amusing, but merely settled into a chair by the living room fire in our plain, nicely furnished home. He glanced over the mail, separating the bills, catalogues and magazines from the personal letters. Finally picking up a browning parchment envelope, he gave it a very peculiar look. The letter was sealed with a wax crest that said something like, "Hogwarts School of…." Something. My dad looked from me to the bit of mail, then passed it to me with a very bewildered expression. I opened the letter with childish glee, ripping the piece of parchment from inside and beginning to read it.

Dear Miss Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry…

I stared blankly at the parchment, while an excited sort of feeling swelled in the pit of my stomach. Examining the letter closely, I finally decided that it was not a practical joke, and I let out a scream of girlish enthusiasm. I was a witch. I had been accepted to one of the most prestigious wizarding schools in Europe, and if my parents said, I would be going there next year. When I showed them my letter of acceptance, my parents beamed with pride: we have a witch in the family, a real witch! Petunia, however, was far less enthusiastic.

Petunia couldn't stand that I, her little sister with no extraordinary talent, could be something that our parents were proud of. That had always been her job: the good student, the doting daughter, the loving sister, and the kind girlfriend with a nice, decent boyfriend. But now, I was something she could never be: I, Lily Evans, was born a witch. Suddenly all the strange things that had happened to me in my life were explained: the time I had accidentally launched a Monopoly set at Petunia when she had been cheating, the time I had caused a cereal bowl to explode when my when my parents were forcing me to eat more, lights turning on and off unexpectedly when I was in a particularly terrible mood. Yes, I finally understood, my parents finally understood, but Petunia would never understand me again.

But I digress, it seems that we have gone very off topic with this particular remembrance of mine, and here is the silver vile I was speaking of, September 1, 1969. This was my first day at Hogwarts, my first day on the Hogwarts express, my sorting and the first unfortunate meeting with James Potter. Have a look, that's what you're here for, isn't it?

Pulling a heavy trunk with a Hogwarts crest, a tiny girl with red hair, pale skin, a mass of tiny freckles and startlingly green eyes approached a large, black steam engine with clouds of smoke billowing from it. Two older people who must have been her parents were in tow, smiling anxiously as they helped her load her belongings into the compartment under the train.

"Oh, Lily, I'm going to miss you so much." The woman, whose name Rose Evans, said in a shaky, tearful voice. Her father, John Evans, pulled Lily into a tight hug and patted her mother softly on the shoulder as a few restrained tears slid down her cheek. Lily wished she wouldn't cry. If her mother cried, Lily would only have more trouble holding back her own tears and getting on the train. She had never left her parents for more than a few weeks at camp: this was leaving her family for 9 months to live in a whole different world.

"Bye sweetheart, we'll miss you," John said softly, still hugging his daughter whose tear ducts glistened slightly, " Petunia wanted me to tell you that she was very sorry she couldn't make it, but to tell you goodbye for her."

"Yeah, I know. Tell her goodbye for me, too." Lily's voice seemed to reverberate loudly even thought the train station was full of people, all talking at least as loudly as she was. She let go of her dad and kissed her mother goodbye, slowly walking toward the train, walking towards her new life and away from the muggle world she knew so well.

Looking through the train for a compartment, Lily found an empty one in the very back of the train. Unsure of who else to sit with, she decided it best to sit on her own, that way, she wouldn't be bothering anybody.

A few minutes had past as Lily sat in silence, leaning up against the side of the compartment and taking up almost a whole bench on her own. She looked out the window as the train started to move, waving goodbye to her parents as they shouted their goodbyes at her. She briefly entertained the thought of jumping off the train to hug them goodbye one last time, but thought better of it when the train sped up to traveling speed. A moment after the train had left the station, Lily saw a petite girl with short, gingery blonde hair and a delicate, pointy nose walk towards her compartment. She was pretty, but in an odd sort of way. Doing a double take when she saw the empty compartment, the girl approached and opened the door.

"Mind if I sit, sees as it's empty and all?" The girl asked airily, now that she was closer, Lily saw that she had blue eyes and freckled cheeks, but was a bit tanner and her skin was less rosy than Lily's own.

"Sure, fine, go ahead." Lily added eagerly; she didn't know anyone at all and was excited to make new friends. Or at least new acquaintances.

" My name's Lauren," she said, politely extending her hand for Lily to shake. Lily reciprocated, noticing what a strong handshake Lauren had, "Lauren Prewett. And you are?"

"Lily Evans," Lily took her hand back and stuffed it quickly into her robe pocket.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lily." Lauren Prewett seemed oddly formal: Lily assumed that perhaps Lauren had come from a very proper family, but she didn't know. Perhaps all witches and wizards were proper like this, and perhaps they would find Lily unrefined and course. Perhaps Lauren was even informal for a witch, what if all witches and wizards abided by strict social rules and understandings Lily wasn't aware of? She began to smile nervously at Lauren, more frightening thoughts entering her head.

Am I violating social boundaries now by not talking to her? Should I be sitting up straighter? Was she expecting me to lead the conversation? Does she wand me to shut up? Has she already realized how horribly out of the loop I am? Should I know who she is? Oh God, she probably thinks I'm stuck up, or that I hate her. Or maybe she thinks I'm just an idiot. Maybe it's true.

But before Lily could continue, she noticed Lauren giving her an odd sort of look. She seemed to be examining Lily, perhaps deciphering her genetic code. Could witches do that?

"You're not a pureblood witch, are you?" Lauren asked a moment later. Lily felt a jolt of relief that this was her only question.

"Oh, no I'm not, neither of my parents were magical." Lily replied automatically, not realizing that in a few years time, such an answer if given in the wrong sort of company could put her life in danger.

"Ah, so that explains it," Lauren laughed with a friendly but dignified air, "you look confused. Or maybe scared. Or both." Lily gave a nervous sort of giggle that only served to confirm Lauren's suspicions.

"Both, definitely." They both laughed and Lauren shook her head.

"You'll do fine. My cousin and brother are already here, one's graduated, that's why I'm not worried. Fabian's graduated, but Gideon Prewett and William Prewett are still around, you know," Lily looked nervously at her and bit her lip, "Oh, right, of course not. Good."

"Good?" Lily replied looking at least as confused as she had before.

"Yes, good. I get so sick of people trying to get in my good book because I'm from a well-known family. Selfish sycophants, the lot of them."

"Oh," Lily said with obvious surprise in her voice, "You're a well-known family? Well known for what? Did you win a war or invent the telephone or something?" but the minute the words were out of her mouth, and she saw a mildly surprised look on Lauren's face, Lily wished she hadn't said it, "I'm sorry, I just meant –"

"It's okay," she said with a nonchalant chuckle, "We're well-known among the wizarding world because we're purebloods and my dad works at the ministry. Head of the Department of Magical Transportation, you see. Much like the Potters, the Longbottoms, the Weasleys, the Malfoys and the Blacks, but, of course, we don't believe we're better than everyone else because of our blood like the Malfoys or the Blacks do."

"So I see," Lily replied with an odd sort of smile. But just as she had opened her mouth to speak, two girls burst through the door panting and gasping for breath. One of them swore loudly. The swearer had short, dirty blonde hair tied up in a pony tail and brown eyes; she was considerable taller than Lily with a very athletic build wearing straight leg jeans and an ill fitting jersey.

"That prat, threw a bunch of chocolate frogs he bewitched into our compartment, still beating the crap out of a couple of second years."

"What are they doing, flying around the room?" Lily joked, chuckling.

"Yah, pretty much. Jumping all over the place, one of them hit poor Alice in the eye!" The girl said, pointing the girl who had entered with her but had yet to say a word. She had dark, Brown hair and a warm, round face and muted, wide set hazel eyes. She was a bit short with a build much like her face, not to say that she was chubby, but she had had a very soft sort of look to her. She looked up at the occupants of the car, one of her eyes turning slightly purple. Lily and Lauren both winced uncomfortably. Lauren's eyes widened suddenly as she pulled a spell book from her bag, flipped it open to one of the pages, and pointed her wand at the girl called Alice while muttering an incantation. Suddenly her face went white and then returned to full color, minus the purple eye.

"What did you DO?" the blonde haired girl asked, awe in her voice.

"Just a simple spell, Marlene. My cousin, Fabian taught me a bit before I came." She muttered modestly, trying to conceal a self-satisfied smile. Alice still looked quite amazedly at her reflection in the window.

"I thought Fabian wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school." Marlene replied, her dirty blonde ponytail whipping around when she turned her head.

"Don't be stupid, he's been out of Hogwarts for a year already. He's working in the ministry with my da' now." Marlene nodded and her attention suddenly turned to Lily.

"Lauren, who's your friend?" Marlene asked, staring at Lily who blushed slightly.

"Oh, that's um…Lily. Lily, that's it. She's a muggle. I mean a muggleborn, not a muggle."

"Really?" Marlene's expression was surprisingly pleasant, "My mum's a muggle, but my dad's a wizard," Lily was mildly surprised that such a union could occur, "She was bloody mortified when she found out, but he finally convinced her that it was the same old him that she'd been with all along. Good thing, too. He's never been great shakes at memory charms, can't have muggles running around who know wizards' secrets. But my mum accepted it in the end. They were right proud when I was a witch, my dad was a bit worried that I'd be a squib or muggle or whatever because my mum was one. So there you are: my life story. I talk too bloody much. Lauren, do tell me to shut up next time I bore the ears off your friends." Lily giggled and shook her head.

"No, I really don't mind," Lily sputtered, then looked at Alice who was also giving an approving chortle, black eye now mostly healed, "Wait, who was it that attacked you with…chocolate, did you say?"

"What? Oh, oh that," Marlene began, screwing up her face as if she was remembering something particularly unpleasant, "That would be either James Potter or Sirius Black. Probably both, I saw them running off down the train about the same time that a frog landed in my hair. Chocolate Frogs, Lily, are frogs made of chocolate that can jump around. But these were far more lively than those that come fresh out of a box. There was definitely something up. And when I saw Potter and Black running off down the train, well, what other explanation was there?"

"It could have been a coincidence." Lauren stated calmly; Marlene scoffed.

"Oh, of course. James Potter, who has a strange habit of always being around when trouble starts just happened to be right outside our door when a chocolate frog battalion charged the compartment. I'll bet that'd hold up in court."

"He's really not that bad if you get to know him." She muttered under her breath, avoiding Marlene's eyes and the unpleasant look in them.

"I know he's a friend of the family, but surely you can admit that the boy's more trouble than he's worth, especially with Black around." Marlene chided.

"Maybe." Lauren conceded, obviously still avoiding her gaze.

"On a more positive note," Alice chirped, it was indeed the first time Lily had heard her say anything, " the food cart lady is coming down the train." Marlene clapped her hands enthusiastically and dove into her bag, pulling out a leather wallet with the initials SW embossed into the front in what looked like a family crest of sorts. Lily followed suit, pulling out a change purse full of sickles and knuts. The girls clamored around the cart as it came, each more eager than the last to stuff their pockets full of candy, drinks and other treats. Marlene had gotten at least two of everything, while Alice had opted for a large slab of chocolate and Lauren a box of what looked like ordinary jelly beans and multiple containers of chocolate frogs. Under the instruction of Alice, Lily got 5 boxes of chocolate frogs, a package of Jelly beans, some custard creams and a glass of pumpkin juice.

Struggling to balance it all in her arms, she set it on tray in their compartment and entertained the thought of stuffing it all into her mouth at once. She had gotten so hungry since breakfast, when she had refused to eat for nerves. In the end, she decided to actually eat the food she had purchased rather than obliterate it. After having eaten about half of the chocolate frogs and one of the custard creams, she looked positively sick. Once again, the overzealous eleven-year-old's eyes were bigger than her stomach. She left the rest on her tray and stuck her tongue out, declaring a hearty "I'm full!" to the rest of the compartment.

"Can I have the rest of your chocolate frogs, then?" Marlene chirped, excitedly. Before Lily could answer in the affirmative, Lauren interrupted.

"Marlene McKinnon, leave the girl alone. She can eat them later. And honestly, Lily, you haven't even tried your Bertie Bott's yet!" Lauren scolded the lot of them.

"My what?" Lily replied, obviously confused again.

"The Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. They're my favorite type of candy. They've really got every flavor!" she replied happily.

"Oh, I have those at home. It's called getting a boxed with mixed flavors."

"Ha. Ha. That's not what I mean. Here, try this one." Lily complied and popped a green jelly bean into her mouth. The moment she obliged, she desperately wished she had shoved the jelly bean back in Lauren's direction. Her mouth was suddenly on fire, and not cooling down. She shouted in complete shock, and took a deep swig from her pumpkin juice. Jalapeño flavored: Lily's least favorite pepper on the planet. Alice and Marlene laughed heartily while Lauren tried to stifle a giggle, looking guiltily at Lily.

"Sorry, thought it was just grass" Lauren smiled weekly, handing Lily the box.

"Oh, and that's infinitely better, isn't it? I could have been having yard clippings. Delicious." Marlene and Alice laughed even harder.

"I was just trying to prove my point." She looked guiltier than ever, but shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, that you did." Lily laughed and popped a bean into Lauren's mouth. Her face contorted into a grotesque expression as she sputtered and spit it out, wiping her tongue with her napkin and taking a gulp of tea.

"I think that was vomit." Marlene made a sort of gagging noise behind her friend's back, "I suppose I hade that coming." Lauren smiled and shoved an earwax flavored been into Lily's mouth, who shoved a dirt flavored one into Lauren's mouth, who threw a cherry flavored one at Lily, who proceeded to pelt Lauren, Marlene and Alice with jellybeans, a frog flavored one landing in Marlene's mouth, and, much to Alice's dismay, one that tasted like moldy cheese landing in hers.

They continued to pelt each other with jelly beans until the train compartment doors flew open, sending the girls straight back into their seats looking surprised and embarrassed. There in the door way stood a very amused looking boy who was tall with glasses and shaggy black hair and grey eyes, followed immediately by another boy, grinning smugly, with long, shiny dark hair and dark eyes who was about the same height as his friend.

"I had just come to see Lauren," the boy with glasses said, smirking, "But it appears that you have been trying to assassinate her with Jelly beans. Wreaking havoc on poor Lauren, are you Marlene?"

"I just thought I'd follow your lead, dear James, but I opted for something smaller and less likely to give Alice a black eye." Marlene replied, haughtily.

"Alice hasn't got a black eye, and besides, I'm sure I don't know what on earth you're talking about." The boy looked suspiciously from Alice to Marlene.

"Alice hasn't got a black eye because Lauren fixed it. One of those frogs you bewitched hit her in the eye. Remember now?"

"Oh, I'm that I was not involved in this tragic incident in any way, shape or form. You know me, Marlene. I prefer the quiet life. I like to stay out of trouble." Marlene shook with derisive laughter.

"If you stay out of trouble, it's only when you don't get caught, Potter. Why were you picking on them anyway? What had they done to you."

"Well, I already told you, Marlene. I didn't do anything. But whoever did do such a thing probably thought it was terribly funny. Maybe it was Sirius. Sirius, was it you?"

"Of course not!" the boy with dark hair and sparkling dark eyes barked, "I am insulted that you would even think of me like that." Sirius replied in mock outrage.

"See? It was someone else. Now, I believe I already told you that I was here to say Hi to Lauren." He walked over to Lauren who stood up to give the boy a hug. Marlene threw contemptuous looks over her shoulder at Lauren who ignored them. Lily still had yet to speak, perhaps because she knew neither boy and felt it rude to interrupt. She may not have been raised with the sort of etiquette that Lauren possessed, but her mother had raised her properly. She knew it was not acceptable to interrupt.

"How're you doing, Polly?" He asked Lauren, reciprocating the hug. Lauren looked embarrassed.

"I told you I don't go by that anymore. You know I hate my first name." She jerked her head in Lily's direction, as if implying that didn't want him to say anything more in front of her 'guest' of sorts.

"I can't imagine why not. Polly Prewett has a certain undeniable ring to it."

"Then you've answered your own question. It's Lauren, James." He rolled his eyes, but acquiesced reluctantly.

"Fine, Lauren," He looked around to see that Sirius had sat in Lauren's place, striking up an animated conversation with Alice, " Well, it doesn't appear that Sirius will be ready to leave any time soon. Who's your friend, Po- I mean, Lauren?"

"Lily Evans, a new acquaintance of mine. I dare say that, despite the fact that she's never met us before, she's managed to put up with Marlene, Alice and me for the past few hours.""

"Well, Alice I can understand, but Marlene and you? The poor thing." He smirked at Lauren who hit him jokingly on the arm, but then he turned to Lily and gave her a shy sort of smile. Turning her direction, he extended his hand.

"James Potter," he smiled warmly as she accepted his hand, "And you?"

"Lily Evans," she replied, shaking his hand. His handshake was strong, too. He had an undeniable charm about him, but with a mischievous glint in his eyes that his sly sort of smile did nothing to hide. Though some may find the gesture inconsequential, Lily was impressed that during the handshake, James' eyes had remained focused on her own. Eye contact, Lily's father had said, was a lost art. If someone won't look you in the eyes, they have something to hide. But James Potter was not breaking eye contact, nor did he flinch as many young boys seemed to do when they are caught making eye contacting with most anyone.

"So, what sort of thing do your parents do?" He asked casually, though Lily was a bit startled by being asked such a question by someone her own age.

"Well, neither of them are Wizards," she began, a look of polite surprise lighting James' face, "My dad's a district attorney, and my mum owns a tea room."

"A district what?" James asked, looking more confused than polite.

"A district attorney, DA, he… well, he argues in court. It's his job to put bad people in jail. Well, sort of, but you get the gist of it." Lily explained, finding it very difficult to explain a muggle occupation to a wizard. Hell, she didn't know if the wizarding world even had a legal system.

"Is that so? My father is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Is that sort of the same thing?" James replied, a look of inquisitive comprehension on his face. Lily nodded halfheartedly, not really knowing at all what similarities the two professions bore, "Well, since my dad is the Head of that department, you know, it'll be relatively easy for me to become an auror, you see. That's always been what I wanted to do when I was older. Of course, it's a very dangerous job, what with killing dangerous criminals and bringing down crazy, dark wizards. And it requires a great deal of intelligence and skill, but nothing I couldn't handle." James was loosing his polite air and stepping rapidly into boasting territory. Lily cocked one of her brows and gave the boy a skeptical sort of look.

"Fortunately for me, then, I've still got 7 years to think about what I'm doing. I don't know a thing about Wizards' jobs." Lily replied, shrugging her shoulders unenthusiastically.

"Really?" James replied a bit more enthusiastically, "Because I could tell you, if you like. Both of my parents are wizards, I know a lot about it, if you ever want to come talk to me about it. Oh, and if you have any other questions about –"

"Don't worry, James," Marlene interrupted, "You're not the only wizard here, you know. Lauren, Alice and I could tell her anything she needed to know."

"Well, we really should head back to our compartment anyway, seeing as we don't know if those other boys saved our spaces or not. You never know who might've invaded our compartment." James nodded at Sirius, looking slightly put out.

"See you, Lolly. I mean Lauren." James said to Lauren, in a mock-confused sort of tone. Lauren was not fooled.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, James." She pulled her friend into a tight hug before he pulled out, extending his hand again to Lily, smirking oddly.

"Nice to meet you." He stated simply, but before she could reply, Sirius had yelled, "Oy! James!" James looked out of the compartment window, "someone's heading for our compartment," Sirius noted crossly, now watching the undeniably greasy haired boy out of the window. Lily adjusted in her seat to get a better look at the boy, who had almost black eyes, a pale, pointed face, lank, greasy black hair and a long hooked nose, "And look who it is! Snape!" Sirius gave a grin very reminiscent of James'.

"Looks like we're going to have to set him straight, Sirius," the familiar smirk returned to James' face and his eyes twinkled impishly. The boys slowly and quietly exited the compartment, sliding the door shut with the utmost caution, as to assure that it didn't make a sound. Lily and the other girls crowded around the door to see what was going on, opening it slightly to hear.

"Well, well, it seems you've invaded our compartment, Snape and we're going to have to ask you to leave." Lily heard one of them say suddenly, sounding like James.

"I don't see your name on it. If you leave it, anyone else who comes by it can take it. I don't suppose you claim to own the Hogwarts express, do you? Because if you did, then any of these compartments would be yours and each student is at least as at fault as I am." The boy said rather scathingly, and the atmosphere growing tenser.

"Well, Severus, we'd be more than happy to help you out of here, if you wish." Sirius said, his hand suddenly plunging into his pocket and withdrawing his wand. Snape began to reach for his too, but James shouted, "Expelliarmus!" sending the boy ricocheting of the wall and flying out into the hall. Lily gasped in shock, looking from the boy to James and Sirius, still looking vindictively at the boy who was now on the floor scrambling for his wand. James looked like he might have been about to try something else, but before he could lift his wand, Lily had flung open the door and started shouting.

"Leave him alone!" Lily exclaimed from the doorpost, looking highly distraught. James and Sirius exchanged surprised looks, turning their gaze backed to Lily, who looked positively anxious.

"We were just helping him out of OUR compartment. He was trying to steal it, after all." James stated simply, encouraged by Sirius.

"It was an honest mistake! He just sat in your compartment by accident, and you could have hurt him!" She pointed to the boy who was now standing looking positively livid, wand in hand and readied.

"Fine, I'll leave him alone. Out, Snape." He stated clearly, throwing his trunks back into the hall where Snape was and quickly shutting the door. The boy looked no less infuriated, and made his way down the hall to another compartment, uttering a slur of swearwords under his breath.

"Honestly, who does he think he is, just cursing people for nothing like that?" Lily declared upon reentering the compartment to looks of surprise and admiration form Alice and Marlene, while Lauren looked surprised enough, but rather resigned.

"I told you." Marlene reminded, " I told you James Potter was a stupid, arrogant git. And look who was right!" She stage-whispered to Lauren, who looked slightly miserable.

"He's really not that bad most of the time…" she muttered under her breath.

"Well, bully for him, not being a bullying, arrogant arse all of the time. Amazing self control, that takes." Marlene snapped, Lauren looking positively agonized.

"Leave it, Marlene. You've made your point." Alice interjected. Marlene looked as if she wanted to continue, but consented reluctantly. But if anyone was right, it was Marlene. Who did he think he was, hurting that kid when all he'd done was sit in their compartment by mistake? It was a rather stupid thing to be upset about, really. And they probably could have fit all of them comfortably. Boys could be so stupid sometimes. Or maybe it was just James and Sirius.

But just as the thought had entered her head, she was distracted by the sounds of breaking. Lily looked out the window as they rolled into a small, quaint town and she grinned happily when they stopped in the station. Stuffing her things into her bag quickly and picking up her chocolate frogs and trunk, Lily made to get out of the compartment with her friends. It was a mad dash to get out of the train, kids popping out of every compartment, dashing in between their compartment and their friends', looking for things that they had left behind. Finally, Lily and the other girls got off the train, still hauling their heavy trunks, and looked around expectantly for someone to lead them.

"First years, over here! First years!" She heard someone call over the loud, anxious noise of the crowd. The largest man Lily had ever seen was standing by the edge of a lake, which was covered in wooden boats. They made their way over, handing the enormous man their trunks, who accepted them with a smile and a wave and helped them board the waiting boats. Lily was visibly hesitant: she had always hated small boats and deep water, but when mixed, it was almost a phobia. She got in very reluctantly, shivering from head to toe, as the other girls boarded into boats after her. She shivered with combined cold and fear as her boat began to take off towards the opposite shore.

"Lily, are you scared?" Lauren looked mildly surprised by the look of nervous apprehension that Lily was sporting, "You know these boats are bewitched, don't you? They can't sink. They just go to the other side." Lily was mildly relieved at first, but suddenly, she saw a great, purple, tentacled arm rise out of the water an inch or so.

"I just saw something move!" She almost shouted, " It was huge, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." Lily panicked, but Lauren calmed her down, putting her arms on her shoulders.

"Calm down, Lily. It's just the giant squid."

"Just? Just? Oh, that makes me feel much better. I suppose it'll just squish me, too. No worries, then? I'll just drown if it gets after me?"

"Honestly, Lily, it doesn't attack students. You worry too much." But this did nothing to calm Lily. Throughout the duration of the trip, Lily snuck nervous glances at the water, making sure the squid didn't dare to try something.

Moments Later, they arrived at the castle, feeling somewhat weary from the long travel. Lily looked apprehensively at the dock, worried that the small, unstable looking boat would tip and throw her into the lake, as it had been threatening to do since they boarded. Perhaps it was a conspiracy, a grand plot to lull the first years into a false sense of security and then dump them all into the lake. Poor souls, wouldn't stand a chance. They'd all be devoured by the squid, or strangled by seaweed, or worse.

"Lily? We're getting off now." Lauren prompted, pushing her gently in the small of her back. Getting off was actually quite easy, which surprised Lily. These boats were much sturdier than they looked, not that she was about to admit it. She began to feel very stupid about having made a scene, if she was honest with herself. She should have known that they wouldn't let her fall into the lake. Then again, she didn't know these people, it was, perhaps a bit odd that her parents had let her come at all having no idea about magic and knowing nothing about the wizarding world. It seemed odd that when a member of the Hogwarts staff showed up at her door and explained to her family that Lily had unusual magical powers that no one but others like her knew about, her parents had embraced this news and allowed her to go. Most people wouldn't have taken kindly to a nutter in wizards' robes showing up at their house and trying to convince them to go to their school. Perhaps it was both the draw of new adventures and the eagerness to believe in a magic that had finally convinced her parents to let her come. In all honesty, she was excited but nervous at the prospect, and had become even more of both with time.

She wondered vaguely at how many other muggleborn children Hogwarts might contain unless she herself was the only one as the first years were all rounded up together, approaching an enormous castle that Lily was sure must be the school. It was by far the largest old building that she had ever seen, and at the same time, it seemed architecturally impossible after so many years. Its stone was still neatly held together, its spiraling towers jutting towards the sky with hardly a support. Spires, the many tiers, the many dark and shadowy niches in the walls, and off into the distance, a tiny willow tree that appeared to be shaking off its leaves rather than simply shedding them all coincided elegantly. The whole place radiated an unfamiliar type of feeling that nonetheless, Lily could easily identify: Magic. The otherwise cold and distant castle was alight with magical activity from its mossy green grounds to its shiny stone ceilings.

The students moved at a snail's pace, something that would have ordinarily bothered the highly efficient Lily Evans, but in her brilliant stupor, she felt that she should be moving perhaps even slower. She heard herself wonder in the corner of her mind, "is all of the magical world like this?" as she slowly entered through heavy front doors and down the hall to where a woman with green velvet robes and her hair in a tight sort of bun greeted the new arrivals less cordially than Lily might have hoped.

"Good evening, new students. I am the Transfigurations professor and the Gryffindor head of house. When I let you into the hall, you will line up along the back wall and wait for you name to be called. When you are called up, you will walk to the stool, wait for me, and the sorting will commence. Once you have all been sorted, you will be able to join your house tables and then you will be able to eat." This was met with one soft cheer of gratitude from someone, and Lily new that it had been either James Potter or Sirius Black. She stifled an appreciative giggle and instead turned her gaze to Alice, who looked white with fear.

"Alice? Are you okay?" Lily asked her softly, lining up between her and Alice Marlene, who was still bickering with Lauren about something.

"Yes I'm fine," Alice said a little too quickly, "I'm just nervous about being sorted." She finished softly, looking up at Lily from the corners of her eyes.

"Why? What does it matter where you're sorted to?" Lily replied, confused by Alice's antics.

"Well, I just don't want to end up in a bad house. I mean, Gryffindor like my parents would be nice and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are both perfectly good houses, but I mean, I wouldn't want to end up in Slytherin." Alice gave a visible shudder at the mention of the house.

"Why? What's wrong with Slytherin?" Shouldn't all the houses be equal, Lily thought?

"Well, it even sounds terrible, doesn't it?" Alice lowered her voice conspiratorily, "There never was a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin. My parents told me, Lauren's parents told her, it's a well known fact."

"Surely as many of them as there are they can't all be bad."

"Want to bet? Their house founder himself was a bad dark wizard. Locked up horrible monster in the castle somewhere. It was let out about 20 years ago and started killing muggleborns," Lily's face betrayed her deep horror at the thought, "Oh, don't worry, he was expelled ages ago, who ever it was. But Slytherins are bad news, Lily. You don't want to be getting mixed up in that house." Before Lily could say anything else about how it wasn't really fair of her to lump all slytherins together like that, Professor McGonnagal announced them into the Great Hall.

Looking around, she saw that it was a huge, ball room sized dining area decked out in splendid Greens, Rich reds and yellows, bright blues, soft golds and silver with a hint of black. Banners hung from the rafters, draped over each table indicating which house belonged to which table. One was yellow and black with a small, neatly stitched badger on the front and a large black H in calligraphy, the one next to it was Red and Gold with a brilliant stitched Lion and a Red G, then a Blue and bronze banner with a black raven and a blue R, then a silver and green banner with a tremendous snake and a sharp black S. That must be the slytherin banner, she thought to herself. She gave an involuntary shudder as the banner blew slightly in the imaginary wind, making the snake looked like it was moving. She hated snakes, and she wasn't too fond of them in tapestry form either.

Following the lines of the roof with her eyes, she suddenly noticed that the ceiling was – could it be? – raining. Great sheets of icy water were pouring from the sky and onto the great hall, but the students didn't look wet. In fact, they looked warm and comfortably dry in their robes and scarves. Lily flinched a bit as she walked into the room behind Alice, anticipating the possibility of rain, but the rain never reached her. It seemed to vanish in mid air. A raining roof whose droplets just disappeared, how very odd.

The sorting began shortly after the first years had all entered the room. Or rather, it would have if the lumpy, stitched up and decrepit old hat sitting on the chair that the first years were supposed to sit in while being sort hadn't suddenly opened his stitched sides and began to sing!

So many years ago when  
Godric ripped me off his head  
The founders had once sorted you,  
but now I do instead

Four very noble houses did  
the wizards four design  
And wherever I shall put you,  
that is where you shall reside.

Those founders four were Gryffindor,  
strong, and brave at heart  
Bright Rowenna Ravenclaw,  
Was clever, witty and smart,

Fairest Helga Hufflepuff,  
was fair and kind and just,  
And shrewd Salazar slytherin  
thought cunningness a must.

And while they lived they chose the ones  
Whose values matched their own  
And now that I am doing it,  
I'll do only what I've known

If you put me on your head  
I'll look inside your mind  
And then I'll look around and see  
just which of these I find:

For those with keen intelligence,  
Ravenclaw will suit you well  
And to the loyal and hardworking folks,  
Hufflepuff I'll surely tell

The noble house of Gryffindor  
is just for the courageous  
But cunning and ambitious folk  
find Slytherin advantageous.

So sit upon this stool, my dears,  
and slip me on round your ears  
And as I finish with my song  
I'll tell you where your hearts belong

The students all clapped appreciatively as the old weathered hat gave a feeble bend, which Lily assumed was intended to be a bow. The hat stood still for a moment, and professor McGonnagal began to call up first years one at a time. **_Ackerley, Stefen_** was directed to walk to a stool in the middle of the stage and section of teachers' tables, where McGonnagal picked up the dirty old hat and put it on his head. His eyes were squinted very tight, as in concentration or perhaps nervousness. After a moment of whispered deliberation, the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!" to the claps and cheering of the students. He slowly walked down to the table labeled with a Blue and bronze banner, where a kindly 4th year directed him to an available place, still smiling and cheering.

A few moments later, Lily's attention was focused back on the sorting ceremony when "Black, Sirius" was called, and the boy she had met on the train earlier that day walked nonchalantly to the stool. The hat sat on his head for a few long moments while he seemed to be having a heated discussion with it; he looked especially mutinous. Something about "family" and "blood" and "a certain disregard for rules," but she couldn't hear much more before the hat cheerfully shouted, "Gryffindor!" much to the delight of the Gryffindor table, which seemed to engulf him much like a large red and gold amoeba.

A few more students were called, then Lily heard "Evans, Lily" and her heart temporarily stopped beating, and her stomach seemed to lodge itself in her throat. She stood for a moment before Alice shoved her in the direction of the stool. She walked nervously over and sat down, biting her lower lip expectantly while the hat was slipped on her head. Suddenly, she began to hear voices that seemed to be resonating loudly inside her head, but that no one else seemed to think was very loud.

"Ah, let's have a look, shall we? Yes, excellent mind. Yes, very brave, lots of courage, this one. Kind and fair, too, like a Hufflepuff. Hmm, you're very ambitious and sharp, but not necessarily cunning, really. No, I don't see you as much of a Slytherin, but where to put you?" Lily sighed with relief despite herself when the hat told her that she was not going to be in Slytherin. She didn't want to discriminate against their whole house, but no way in hell was she going to be a dark wizard.

"Whats this I hear? You don't like Slytherin? And why not?" He spoke to her, in side of her head.

"Well, it's not so much that I don't like them as that there is no way that I'm going to be a dark wizard and I'm worried it might, you know, turn me bad." The hat chuckled appreciatively.

"No one can turn you bad unless you want them to. Ah, what's this I see? Standing up for that boy on the train? Well, it certainly takes a great deal of courage to stand up to people. Why do you suppose you did it?"

"Because James Potter was being a bullying prat and that kid did nothing wrong. I had to tell him to stop, what else would I have done?" she replied defensively. The hat seemed to chuckle again before shouting, "Gryffindor!" much to the enthusiasm of the Gryffindor table, rising to clap and hoot as she joined the table next to a smiling second year.

Shortly afterwards, her friend, Alice Taft, was sorted almost effortlessly into Gryffindor, smiling and joining Lily, another boy named Remus Lupin also joined their table, sitting a few spaces down from Alice and her next to Sirius Black. A few people later, a boy named Peter Pettigrew was sorted into Gryffindor, and James Potter approached the hat. It was placed on his head, muttered something to him to which he replied loudly, "NO SODDING WAY!" which caused the hall to erupt into laughter, while James looked quite unabashed. Perhaps he hadn't noticed. The hat shouted "Gryffindor," and James came to join their table, sitting next to Sirius and making eyes at Lily once while she rolled hers before his friends distracted him. Lauren was next. Lily crossed her fingers under the table, praying for a Gryffindor vote. Lauren had been so kind to her on the train, it would be lovely if all for of them could be in Gryffindor together, especially when they all knew so much about the wizarding world and Lily knew so little. The hat required only a few moments of deliberation in Lauren's case, and she was promptly sorted into Gryffindor, much to Lily's and her own obvious relief.

"It sort of wanted to put me in Ravenclaw," Lauren said, beaming at the two of them, "But I guess it thought Gryffindor was a better fit. 'Heart like a Lion,' it said." Lily nodded and smiled. The hat had said virtually the same things to her, she didn't understand what the big deal about it was.

"Yah, the bloody hat wanted to put me in Slytherin," Sirius butted in, having scooted over to join in on the conversation, "I refused, of course. I don't care about the dark arts like my parents do. Or what sort of blood you've got."

"Well, lucky me then. Do most people?" Lily muttered softly. Why should anyone care what sort of blood she had? You can't help what you're born the same way you can help what kind of person you become. It's a stupid thing to care about, really.

"Well," Sirius looked a little bit reluctant to answer, "Not most necessarily, but yeah, a lot of people care. Slytherins, mostly, not that there aren't people who care in any house. There are a lot of people who wont discriminate against you for it who are proud of theirs anyway. It's kind of a hot issue, not one of the things you discuss at dinner like Religion and Politics."

"Oh," she nodded, "What, really, is so bad about Slytherin? Alice tells me the whole lot of them are dark wizards and you tell me the whole lot of them hate me because I'm muggleborn, but they can't all be the same. Cunning and shrewdness, neither of those are bad things, really."

"Well, it's not so much their cunning and shrewdness as the fact that they always think the ends justify the means, you know. It doesn't matter if someone gets hurt so long as they get what they want. And then there's the fact that, as a house, they really do all care about your blood. Salazar Slytherin himself cared; he only wanted purebloods admitted to the school. That's why he split up with the other three founders and left the school forever. They wanted to let anyone with the ability into Hogwarts and Slytherin thought that it was all about their blood."

"But that's stupid!" Lily shouted, which would have disturbed the people around them if they weren't clapping so loudly at someone being sorted into Slytherin. Lily whipped her head around to see who it was. Surprisingly enough, it was the boy from the train earlier, the boy that James and Sirius had been goading mercilessly for taking their spot in the compartment. What a ruddy stupid thing to curse someone over. He was smirking oddly from under his layer of lank hair, and an older boy extended his hand, shuffling Snape stiffly to the table. A few other boys congratulated him and he nodded, still smirking.

"You were saying?" Sirius said, turning back to face Lily having lost all interest in Severus Snapes' sorting. He certainly didn't look surprised.

"Oh, that it's bloody stupid to judge people based on what sort of family they were born into when it's something that no one can help." Lily replied, and Sirius shrugged.

"Some wizards think that sort of thing is important. They reckon muggleborns can't be as powerful as regular wizards, can't be as good at magic, are generally beneath them because they're only one step away from muggles, and they think muggles are dirt," Lily looked affronted, "I don't think that about you or anything, it's just what some people think about muggleborns and muggles. But you're not a muggle, you're a real witch."

"Well, my parents are muggles and they're not dirt, either." Lily pouted slightly, but looked more angry than anything. Who were wizards to say that they were better than muggles? They were just different, completely and utterly different.

"I never said they were!" Sirius replied, growing slightly exasperated, "That's just the way some wizards think!" But Lily was cut off from replying when Marlene McKinnon was called to be sorted. Lily eyed the stool and gave Marlene a thumbs up and a smile, she smiled back, nodding at Lily. But before the hat could even touch her head, it shouted "Gryffindor!" and Marlene was directed to the Gryffindor table with cheers and shouts.

"Well, this has all worked out swimmingly." Lauren announced when Marlene sat down between Lauren and some older student Lily had not noticed before. Lauren draped her arm around Marlene's shoulder and pulled her into a hug. Marlene and Lauren sure did fight a lot, but it seemed to make them stronger rather than weaker. Part of it was probably that, when they fought, they didn't drag up personal stuff or hurl insults at each other, it was more of a heated exchange of ideas. Sirius had taken to talking with his friends again and Alice was now staring pointedly at a second year Gryffindor with dark brown hair that covered the tops of his ears, prominent cheekbones and blue eyes with a golden brown ring around the pupils. Lily was tempted to laugh at her friend's display, but her attention was seized instead by a wizened old wizard with a long white beard and even longer white hair. This man seemed to be the quintessential wizard, the model that all muggles thought of when they dreamed about magic as children. Whoever this man was, he seemed to be the invention of Lily's own imagination gone wild, as he stood their gracefully waiting to say something.

"Welcome, Students, to another year at Hogwarts. I am Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School. For those of you who have never graced these halls before, I bid you welcome. I would also like to inform you that the forbidden forest is strictly forbidden without the accompaniment of a teacher to all those who wish to survive the term. Our caretaker, Argus filch would also like me to inform you that he has added vanishing varnish and snapping salamanders to the list of items that are forbidden inside school grounds. The full list, cataloged alphabetically, can be viewed outside of Filch's office, but trying to finish reading the list will not be an acceptable excuse for being late to class," Lily could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile on Dumbledore's face, "Have I forgotten anything, Minerva?" The witch who had greeted the first years earlier shook her head, "then tuck in!"

Suddenly, the empty dishes on the table had filled themselves with food! Giant hams, treacle tart, shephard's pie, blood pudding, great fluffy rolls, pitchers of pumpkin juice, it was absolutely the most amazing thing Lily thought she had ever seen. The students started grabbing for the food, Lily managed to grab a slice of ham, some treacle tart and a blob of mashed potatoes, reached for a fluffy roll and filled her glass with pumpkin juice.

"This is brilliant!" Marlene announced loudly, her eyes glimmering with delight. She reached again for the blood pudding, shoveling another helping onto her plate. Lily laughed, and tucked into her own plate, feeling incredibly satisfied for the first time in ages. She smiled around to the other girls at her table, who seemed to just be finishing up. Alice rolled her eyes uncomfortably and pushed her plate away from her, as though trying to convince herself not to eat anymore. But Lily understood: no matter how stuffed or uncomfortable she was, she was still tempted to eat more of the splendid assortment before her. When they had all finished eating, Dumbledore told the students to follow their house Prefects up to their common rooms where they would be receiving further instructions. The girls lined up behind cheery, ginger haired 7th year wizard who made sure that they had all found the correct line.

"That's my cousin Gideon!" Lauren whispered excitedly. She waved up at him and he beamed, coming over to give her a swift hug.

"Polly!" he exclaimed, swinging her around. She frowned slightly.

"It isn't Polly anymore, Gideon. It's Lauren now that I'm at school."

"Aw, but Polly Prewett was such a lovely name. Much like my elder sister's, of course, but to each his own," he kissed her on the top of her head and set her down, "but I have to finish lining up the first years, so I will see you later, Lauren." Gideon walked off, still smiling, and began to lead the first years up the Gryffindor common room along with a few other students, all of whom had a silver badge with a large "P" printed on it. When they passed down the hallways lined with paintings, Lily was suddenly shocked.

"The paintings look like they're moving!" She exclaimed to Lauren. It was true, in one portrait of a women gathering flowers, the woman had suddenly run off and into another painting when a great black dog invaded her portrait.

"Well of course they are, you can't expect them to just stand around there forever!" Lauren laughed, as though Lily had just asked a question to which the answer was incredibly obvious.

"Well, in the muggle world, they do!" she replied defensively.

"What? Don't they get dreadfully bored?" Lauren remarked sounding confused.

"See, when muggles take pictures, it just captures the image. The image can't move, it's just stuck the way it is."

"Weird." Mused Lauren aloud. They arrived at a portrait of a very portly women who was singing loudly and horribly at a champagne glass.

"Semper Adeste" Gideon stated, and the woman's portrait slid open slowly. All the students began climbing into the portrait whole, some of the older ones helped the younger ones in, other simply stepped on through knowing exactly where to go. After a moment, the prefect began to tell the first years where their perspective dormitories where, which room was the first years and which staircase lead to the girls and boys dormitories.

"But boys, if you ever get confused, you'll know it's the girls dormitory when the stairs suddenly turn into a slide and you start falling down some 20 plus feet." The girls laughed and James made a face. He pointed them finally in the direction of their rooms and ushered them in, helping them with their trunks which had already been delivered to the common room for them. When thy had finally lugged all of their things upstairs, they were greeted with a warm, beautiful old room with 4 beautifully carved wooden four poster beds, all decorated in bright burgundy velvets and gold trims. Lily smiled and rushed over to a particularly large four-poster right next to the window, which seemed like best place for a bed in the whole room. She plopped down enthusiastically on the warm, soft bed and closed her eyes, heaving a deep sigh as she sank into the soft down mattress. It was so warm Lily was sure that they had done something to it, especially since it was cold and rainy outside. Lily hopped off her bed and began setting up her trunk in silence, and the other girls followed suit. Once she had her uniform for tomorrow set out, her toiletries bag on top, her school bag and books next to the trunk in their own bag and her wand firmly in one of its pockets, she was satisfied, and sat down again on her warm and cozy bed.

"Hey," suggested Alice suddenly, "Why don't we go down to the common room for a spell?" Lauren and Marlene looked from Alice to Lily to each other, finally nodding approvingly. Lily shrugged, not wanting to leave the comfort of her bed, but nonetheless anxious to see the common room. Unfortunately, when they arrived, James, Sirius and two other Gryffindor boys were already sitting on the couches, and some Gryffindor fifth years were sitting on the chairs near the fire.

"Never mind," Marlene announced loudly, "I'd rather not see James Potter or his little clique right now." Lily nodded fervently and Alice sighed.

"Honestly, you two. There's so much space, you'd think you'd be able to share it easily enough." Alice replied, rolling her eyes. Lily felt slightly ashamed, but she was a little bit embarrassed about having yelled at James earlier and still upset with him for making her do it in the first place.

"I'm tired anyway, Alice. I really should just get to bed." Lily replied, stretching her arms over her head and yawning.

"I'm tired too, I'll follow her." Marlene added, smiling at Lily and rushing up the stairs.

"Tired my arse, Marlene!" Lauren called up, laughing, and went to join James and his friends by the fire.

"I don't know about you, but I really am tired, Marlene." Lily stated simply, reaching into her trunk for her dressing gown, face wash and toothbrush. She slipped into her night clothes while Marlene searched for hers.

"I am too, I just sort of wanted to see the common room a bit before I went to bed. But not if Potter's in there." Marlene gave an involuntary shudder and Lily suddenly asked her the question that had been on her mind for quite some time.

"Why don't you like him, exactly? Lauren does, and you two are best friends."

"Well, I don't like him because he's an arrogant git who always likes to show off even and especially when it gets him into all kinds of trouble. Lauren likes him because she comes from a pureblood family and they happen to go to a lot of things together. They've been friends since early childhood, and those sorts of bonds are hard to break I suppose. You know how it is when you and someone else are the most normal people at a party? Well, that was them at virtually every single party, and they just sort of hit it off from a young age." Lily nodded, but whatever Marlene could have said about James would not have excused his behavior earlier today. At least, it couldn't excuse it in Lily's eyes.

Lily slowly curled up into her velvet blankets and began to drift off to sleep, though Alice and Lauren had not even returned to the dormitories yet. It was late, it was quiet, it was warm, and Lily was completely exhausted. Her steady breathing soon joined the sounds of the night as Sempter 1, 1969 became naught but a distant memory.

The end of one memory, and the beginning of another, all in one day. I suppose you don't understand why it was important for you to see this, the sorting, the common room, my first experience with James Potter, all distant memories. But you will understand in time that to understand the end, you must understand the beginning.

I suppose that now, it would only be proper to show you the middle. This is the vile you've been waiting for, early 1974. A little more than 5 years later, when everything changed for two groups of friends, and for the rest of the world with the rise of a dark wizard so powerful, his name was enough to terrify the wizarding nations.

A/N: Okay, short prologue over. More will come soon, as I've already got a lot more scattered around that I've written.


	2. Autumn Lilies

Title: In Hearts We Leave Behind

Summary: When Lily was perfectly honest with herself, which she almost never was, she had to admit that, if he weren't so completely impossible, she might have had a bit of a girlish infatuation with James Potter. He was an excellent quidditch player, an engaging conversationalist, and a loyal friend. But in spite of all this, James Potter was completely intolerable. James thrived on chaos; if a room was too neat or his hair was too tidy, he would immediately go about the task of messing it up. Or so it seemed to Lily. But as the Dark Lord gains power, all of her perceptions are completely shaken by the harsh reality of war. Suddenly, all those things that seemed comforting and familiar are not what they seemed to be. Even James Potter, with his incurable arrogance, seems different somehow. Perhaps even for the better.

Rating: PG-13

I don't own JKR or any of her work. I merely borrow it. Without asking.

It was the sort of lazy afternoon that one hails as a refuge from a busy week in late October. The strong, chilly autumn winds whipped the trees with a fierce resolve as yet another maple leaf was thrown from its flailing branches, glistening golden brown in the burst of dappled sunlight through the tree's sparse foliage. It joined its fellows in a heap on the slightly overgrown grass, almost undetectable in its cloak of red and gold.

Hidden in the dense foliage, enjoying pleasant afternoon and the crisp, fall sky, was a girl by the name of Lily Evans. She was tall, slender and sixteen years of age with a long, thick drape of vivid red hair, a pale complexion and brilliant green eyes that resembled cut emeralds in hue and luster. She leaned against a tree, sitting on a jutting root with a library book in her hand, gold lettering on the front cover wearing away with age and frequent use. Next to her was a shorter girl of average build, whose soft brown hair brushed her shoulders and accented a round, kindly looking face with wide set brown eyes and thick, dark eyelashes. The girl, Alice Tuft, was flipping idly through a catalogue with many pictures of witches in elegant silk robes flashing toothy grins at any who chanced a glance at the pages.

"How can you do any sort of work on a day like today, Lily?" asked the half exasperated voice of a third girl, Marlene McKinnon, sitting on a lower limb of the tree. Her skirt was hiked up a bit too high, and red athletic shorts were visible underneath, as were some rather obvious scabs on both knees and a scratch that ran from one end of her thigh to the other. She tucked straight, chin length, dirty blonde hair behind her ear and stretched out on the branch, blinking her stormy grey eyes at the redhead expectantly.

"It rather helps that I have to," Lily replied, rolling her eyes, "And as do you, which means that you really should get down here and get some work done. I'm nearly finished." But Marlene harrumphed at this suggestion and gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Oh, and it's only taken you what, 3 hours? I'd rather not waste daylight doing homework, thank you very much. Besides, I'm off the period before I have anything due. Bloody Transfiguration homework," explained Marlene, shrugging softly before rolling onto her stomach and allowing her arm to dangle lazily down from the tree branch.

A fourth, very pretty girl with gingery blonde hair that draped across her back and pale blue eyes, who had been standing up and leaning against the tree, retorted, "Of course not, you'd rather sit on a tree branch doing absolutely nothing, because that's a much more valuable way to spend your time."

But before Marlene had a chance to retort, Alice butted in, saying, "Oh, leave each other alone, you're acting like third years," Lauren looked indignant and opened her mouth to refute this, but realized that, if anything, it would just be proving her point. She flipped her hair over her shoulder gracefully, but habitually and frowned at Alice, who seemed unaffected.

"Finished, though no thanks to Marley and her 40 minute rant about the new Gryffindor chaser," Lily interjected, placing the leather bound charms book gingerly into her bag and leaning comfortably against the soft bark. Marlene was a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and a very good one as far as Lily, who'd actually never played a day in her life, but enjoyed watching it, could tell. Her brother, Josef, a 7th year, was captain and keeper for the team. Because of this, many had assumed that Marlene's position had merely been a product of overzealous nepotism. However, they were immediately prooven wrong when Marlene, or 'Marley' as her friends called her, scored 3 goals in the first 15 minutes of the first match. She was good, all right, though she was no James Potter.

"What?" Marlene asked, obviously annoyed at being addressed in such a way, "It's a big deal, Lily. Kingsley Shacklebolt has never played quidditch before, shows up and wows Josef at auditions, and now James and I are set to training him. We have to get to where the three of us are working together like our own individual team in the larger Gryffindor quidditch team, or else it's all over but the crying. And to cap it all off, James has landed himself in detention all week and can't come out and work with him until next Thursday, and that's little more than a week before the next match." Alice, who had no particular interest in quidditch, gave an exaggerated yawn, much to Marlene's irritation.

"Just like Potter to land himself in detention," Lily muttered, shaking her head. Lauren looked down and bit her lip. The Prewetts had been long time friends of the Potters, and as such, Lauren had always got on well with James, and since she'd been instated as the new Gryffindor seeker since the last one, William Jefferson, took a blow to the head and was forced to quit by his mother, she and James had become especially close friends. His arrogance seemed not to bother Lauren nearly as much as it did Lily, or at least, not nearly as much as Lily liked to think it bothered her.

When Lily was perfectly honest with herself, which she almost never was, she had to admit that, if he weren't so completely impossible, she might have had a bit of a girlish infatuation with him. And who wouldn't? He was tall and lean, but with a sort of musculature that defied, but certainly suited his otherwise lanky frame. Staying in good physical shape had always been a high priority for him, and Lily had seen him swimming in the Black lake in the middle of November just to stay in shape. Madness, she'd call it later, though it did translate into many points scored by him at Gryffindor Quidditch matches. Additionally, he was very friendly and outgoing, the leader of a group of Gryffindor boys known infamously as the "Marauders," a title no one but themselves understood.

But in spite of this, James Potter was intolerable, even if he did have a nice, bright smile and pretty hazel eyes. Nice smiles and pretty eyes just weren't enough to excuse the arrogance and excessive hexing that Lily had come to associate with the messy-haired Gryffindor. By his own admission, the reputation was entirely deserved. James thrived on chaos; if a room was too neat or his hair was too tidy, he would immediately go about the task of messing it up. Granted, his hair was probably never tidy, which was due more to genetics, it seemed, than any act on his part.

"Give James a break, won't you?" Marlene snapped, swinging her legs around and hopping down from her perch, "Sure, he's an arrogant prat ninety-five percent of the time, but he's a damn good chaser, and you'd be daft to deny it."

"I wasn't planning to. I just think that one of these days, his head will grow so large that he'll have trouble getting in and out of the portrait hole," Lily countered, standing up and dusting off her robes. Marlene looked as though she was about to respond when something whirred past her left ear. If continued on until it hit Lauren, who shrieked and jumped back before Alice, thinking quickly, stunned it. Whirling around to see what it was, Lily saw that it was a fanged Frisbee which had just flown into their midst, and that Lauren was nursing a spot on her arm that the Frisbee had nipped.

"Sorry 'bout that," a male voice Lily recognized immediately said, "Peter's an awful catch. And he's afraid of the fangs, the poor sod," James Potter finished. He gave Lily a lopsided smile, putting a hand on the tree and leaning nonchalantly, supporting his weight with that hand. Lily picked up the Frisbee, holding it loosely in one hand, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Your Frisbee just bit my friend," Lily reminded with a hint of sarcasm in her tone, "I'm afraid I can see his problem with being asked to catch it."

"Oh, come off it Evans," James replied, shaking his head with a chortle, "It's only a Frisbee. Well, a fanged one, but a Frisbee none the less." Lily rolled her eyes impatiently at him.

"Well, if it bites any of my friends again," Lily threatened half-jokingly, "I suppose I'll have to bite you back, or something."

"Promise?" James grinned cheekily, causing a pink flush to tint Lily's cheeks. She glared at him for a moment and decided to pretend it never happened.

"I was joking, Potter. Joking. I thought surely you would understand, since that seems to be the only thing you do." A look flashed on James's face that looked astonishingly like hurt before his cheeky grin was restored.

"Well, since it's something you almost never do in front of me, I suppose I just wasn't expecting it."

"Only reason I'm not funny around you is because I feel my witty brand of humor would be wasted on you," Lily retorted rather childishly, placing her hands on her hips in a confrontational way.

"Oh, Evans, didn't you just say that all I did was joke? Wouldn't I be able to appreciate your witty brand of humor more than most?" His voice contained more than a hint of sarcasm, and Lily didn't care for it.

"I said you joked, Potter. I never said it was funny," Lily stated clearly, raising her eyebrows at him in challenge. James looked slightly taken aback before smirking slightly and shaking his head.

"Well played, Miss Evans. Well played. And now that you've had another jab at my ego, would you mind giving me the Frisbee?" James asked politely, looking at her and holding out his hand expectantly. She reluctantly placed the Frisbee in his hand, rolling her eyes and feeling very tempted to say something like, "boys" and be done with it.

"Just don't let it happen again or, well, you get the general idea," Lily replied, waving the idea off with a vague hand gesture and a slight smile.

"The general idea, yes. Though it may not have been the intended general idea, I certainly got a general idea. See you, Evans." She rolled her eyes and turned her back to him as he traipsed in the direction of his friends, who were giving him impatient stares which James responded to with a shrug.

"I think he _likes_ you," Lauren teased, laughing and sitting on the grass and golden leaves next to Lily's book bag. Lily responded, as any normal girl would, by picking up a heavy, paperback book and hitting Lauren over the head with it.


End file.
